Thomas Preining Claims a Dominant Pole at Oschersleben
Thomas Preining seized pole position at the Sachsenring‑shaped Autodrom Oschersleben with a swift 1:22.400, outpacing Luca Engstler by 0.105 seconds. The Austrian driver continued his breakout weekend by recording victory the previous day.
After the wet Saturday, Preining praised the “fantastic” performance of his Porsche, noting it mirrored yesterday’s drive and thanked the team for its collective effort.
Ballast Baggage Tests the Porsche’s Resilience
Winning earlier forced Preining to carry an additional 20 kg of success ballast into Sunday’s race, a challenge he said would require renewed focus.
In contrast, teammate Ricardo Feller recorded a 0.319 seconds slower lap, securing eleventh place, while Bastian Buus returned from a B‑class program to finish thirteenth.
BMW Gains on Boost and Tire Economy
Marco Wittmann, battling a gastrointestinal issue, concluded Sunday in third despite retiring on Saturday, thus keeping a tire advantage for the race because of the championship’s trio‑set rule.
Balance of Performance adjustments granted the BMW M4 GT3 Evo increased boost, and Wittmann underlined the advantage of having a full set of tires due to missing a Saturday session.
Mercedes‑Amg Stand‑Offs and Gravel Incidents
Arjun Maini and DTM leader Maro Engel began the race in fourth and fifth, respectively, with Engel’s team reporting that his car was on the maximum of its package that day.
Lucas Auer’s gravel run on the second corner after a fast lap dropped him to seventeenth, while fellow Mercedes “Landgraf” competitor suffered a 0.568 seconds deficit, showing how tight the gaps remained.
Kelvin van der Linde was forced to abort his lap due to Auer’s deflection and pointed out that the incident left the track littered and hampered his own pace.
Midfield Struggles and Tire Conservations
Nicki Thiim returned to the back after a 0.773‑second loss from Saturday, while Nicolas Baert finished last, only 0.897 seconds behind.
The grid penalty imposed on Ben Dorr after a collision moved Auer and Thiim up to sixteenth and eighteenth positions, respectively.
Wittmann, Gounon, Finn Wiebelhaus, Marco Mapelli, Ben Dorr, and Baert also saved a set of tires, giving them additional flexibility for the two‑stop race strategy.
Strategic Stakes for the Sunday Race
The event will test every driver’s ability to manage three tire compounds across two‑stop races, with the ballast and BoP changes lingering as key variables.
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